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Like his great contemporaries Sun Yat-sen and Mohandas K. Gandhi, the Philippine patriot and polymath JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896) helped write the history of freedom in Asia. His two subversive novels and an immortal last poem helped inspire the first nationalist revolution on the continent and led to the founding of the first Asian republic. But what was Rizal's impact on the nationalist awakening in Southeast Asia? REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT argues that by infusing a revolutionary spirit into the struggle to create a Philippine nation in the late 19th century, Rizal ended up invigorating Indonesian nationalism and Malaysian scholarship, regional political discourse and world literature, in the 20thC and remains must reading in the 21st.
The history of modern Chinese schools in Peninsular Malaysia is a story of conflicts between Chinese domiciled there and different governments that happened or happen to rule the land. Before the days of the Pacific War, the British found the Chinese schools troublesome because of their pro-China political activities. They established measures to control them. When the Japanese ruled the Malay Peninsula, they closed down all the Chinese schools. After the Pacific War, for a decade, the British sought to convert the Chinese schools into English schools. The Chinese schools decoupled themselves from China and survived. A Malay-dominated government of independent Peninsular Malaysia allowed Chinese primary schools to continue, but finally changed many Chinese secondary schools into National Type Secondary Schools using Malay as the main medium of instruction. Those that remained independent, along with Chinese colleges, continued without government assistance. The Chinese community today continues to safeguard its educational institutions to ensure they survive.
In the first edition, the themes of hope, optimism, and progress of neoliberalism were examined in Asia and America. The second edition, Globalization: Power, Authority, and Legitimacy in Late Modernity, analyses the new pessimism that has descended on the globalized world. The America that was once the bastion of hope, optimism and progress is now showing clear signs of a superpower in decline. The first sign of the American decline since 1941 in Pearl Harbor was the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City on 11 September 2001. The other signs are the Vietnamization of Iraq, a nuclear stand-off with North Korea, increasing trade imbalances with China and India, a stalemate with terrorists in Afghanistan, the challenge of European protectionism, a belligerent politics in the Middle East, overt American dependence on fossil fuels, and the mushrooming of various subprime crises into an escalating global recession. This second edition incorporates the latest developments in terms of culture, wealth and terrorism around the world and provides possible solutions to salvage the American Dream.
However impressive the economic success of Penang has been over the past four decades, structural conditions in the region call for a fundamental reconfiguration of this Malaysian state’s competitive advantage.In the 1970s, the ageing entrepôt transformed itself into a manufacturing hub for the electronics industry and a well-known tourist site. This outward-looking model of economic growth has underpinned Penang’s economic development up until the present. The question that now arises is whether Penang’s present mode of development will continue to be effective, or whether it will have to transform itself. First, Malaysia in general, and Penang in particular are caught in a middle-income trap. Second, while the evolving weight of the global economy is shifting towards Asia, many of its emerging powers are competing with Penang in areas where it formerly excelled. Third, Penang is a state within a federation, and its capital, George Town, is a secondary city. Neither can rival Kuala Lumpur in terms of size or facilities, and thus must offer investors other attributes.Effectively meeting these challenges while retaining Penang’s vibrant and living culture are the key issues that are dealt with in this second volume of the Penang Studies Series.
The inauguration of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Bangkok in 1996 was celebrated with enthusiasm and hopes in the two regions because this forum represented a breakthrough in Asia-Europe relations. The region-to-region pattern of the relations becomes the study framework that enables the explorations of central themes which include the Asian regional identity, ASEAN collective diplomatic prominence, and the informality of the ASEM institution. In exploring those central themes, this book applies constructivist, realist, and neo-liberal institutional theories consecutively. The difference between Asian and European cooperative culture, as well as the longevity of an international institution, adds to the picture. This book contributes not only to the study of Asia-Europe relations but also to the understanding of regionalism in Asia.
Since it began in 2008, the dispute over the temple of Preah Vihear and its adjacent area has envenomed Thai-Cambodian relations. Puangthong R. Pawakapan argues that initially Thai-Cambodian cooperation on the temple had begun within the framework of Thailand's strategy to become a regional economic centre and leader. It was the first time in Southeast Asia that two formerly antagonistic states were employing cultural methods to settle a territorial dispute and turned it into a symbol of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. But the ultra-nationalist movement derailed this essay in cooperation. Instead, the temple became a symbol of hatred between the two countries. The ultra- nationalists' success has to be attributed to the support it enjoyed from various civic groups and institutions.
Europe's mythical origins lie in Zeus' abduction of the Asian princess Europa. Down the real centuries, Asia has played a crucial role in the making of Europe - as an object of Orientalist fantasy and colonial desire, but also of the spread of the liberating values and humane letters associated with the continent. In this book, a lifelong admirer of Europe casts a critical yet loving eye on the continent to ask what it means to him. The book revolves around a series of personal encounters. These range from following his father to Cambridge, and meeting two Bengali lovers in Calcutta who cherish Eros with classical Greek purity, to watching his wife recover in a Polish hospital that lavishes care on her for almost free.These encounters are intertwined with passionately argued essays on the Holocaust, the Soviet ideal and the Berlin Wall as keenly-contested sites of the European imagination. A chapter on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's historical novel, The Leopard, combines literary and political analysis to peer into the heart of Italy, while an essay on champagne in France discovers the France in champagne. An analysis of secularism in the post-9/11 world defends one of the abiding legacies of Europe. Finally, a chapter on postmodern Europe upholds the European Union as perhaps the most exciting international project on offer today.The literary flair of this scholarly book captures the vividness of the intellectual engagement between Asia and Europe.
In the wake of Malaysia’s 13th General Election some commentators speak of a sharpening of ethnic politics — with Prime Minister Najib blaming a “Chinese tsunami” for his government’s polling setbacks; others are optimistic about the arrival of a new “non-racialized form of politics” and the emergence of “transethnic solidarity”. This book, which engages with both the race paradigm and its opponents, warns that change is likely to come slowly — but is not impossible. Malaysia’s race paradigm is a man-made ideological construct — one that has been contested in the past, and could realistically be contested in the future. In confronting the continuing challenge of globalization, Malaysians should not neglect the history of ideas — and ideology — as they search for new options.
The story of Dr Baey Lian Peck should be well known, but it is not. Not even among Singaporeans, and especially not among the young. This tells us a lot about a Singapore caught in pathological haste and prone towards ignoring values that do not add to the financial bottom line.The innovativeness of Dr Baey did not only make him a very wealthy man before he was forty, it also made him an indispensable actor in the implementation of urgently constructed national policies. Political leaders such as Dr Toh Chin Chye, Lim Kim San, Chua Sian Chin and Dr Goh Keng Swee picked him to solve pressing problems such as skyrocketing inflation in the early 1970s, the crisis in prisoner ward in the late 1970s, and the drug addiction epidemic in that same latter period. His one condition for taking on public positions was that he should not be paid. It was exactly this independent trait that made him so highly effective.This book tells his amazing life story, taking us into a surprising world where the qualities that make a good entrepreneur are exactly what make a good public servant... as long as he remains unbound by the bureaucracy."Dr Baey has left us and future generations a reservoir of knowledge, experience and expertise in his book which are derived from the major projects and programmes that he helped set up, nurture and run. We cannot dismiss them as just history. There are invaluable lessons to be gained. Sometimes we need to look at the past to understand the present and future. More importantly, he comes across as a strong and inspiring role model in service to the nation."–K.V. Veloo, pioneer in Probation and Aftercare who set up SANA (Aftercare) Counselling Service, and Prison Welfare Service. Ooi Kee Beng is Senior Fellow at the
Musical Worlds in Yogyakarta is an ethnographic account of a vibrant Indonesian city during the turbulent early post-Soeharto years. The book examines musical performance in public contexts ranging from the street and neighbourhood through to commercial venues and state environments such as Yogyakarta's regional parliament, its military institutions, universities and the Sultan's palace. It focuses on the musical tastes and practices of street workers, artists, students and others. From street-corner jam sessions to large-scale concerts, a range of genres emerge that cohere around notions of campursari (“mixed essences”) and jalanan (“of the street”). Musical worlds addresses themes of social identity and power, counterpoising Pierre Bourdieu's theories on class, gender and nation with the author's alternative perspectives of inter-group social capital, physicality and grounded cosmopolitanism. The author argues that Yogyakarta is exemplary of how everyday people make use of music to negotiate issues of power and at the same time promote peace and intergroup appreciation in culturally diverse inner-city settings.
A bomb attack on a hotel. A bomb in a taxi. Or a bus. Like the London 7 July 2005 bomb attacks. Or if a plot to bomb an MRT station succeeds. How would we react? Would Singaporeans stay calm? And united? Or would ethnic fault lines crack? Building networks of trust in good times is crucial. Building social resilience is important in keeping Singapore united in a crisis. That is what the Community Engagement Programme, or CEP, sets out to do. This book describes the Singapore experience in reaching out to hearts and minds. As we fortify our hearts of resilience, the CEP is a book that continues to be written.
An early crossroad in life is choosing a field of study at the university. That will lay the foundation for the rest of our lives. This book recorded the career choices of the first batch of 557 engineering graduates from the Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI) as NTU was known in 1985. Engineering was then the only discipline offered. The passage of 25 years yielded deep insights as these pioneers reflected on the impact of their engineering education on their careers.Demonstrating the reach and significance of engineering will arouse the curiousity and imagination of the young, especially those good at maths and science. Our lIfe stories showcase the options open to an engineering graduate. If this book inspires some to take up an engineering education in general and at NTU in particular, it will have achieved its purpose.
After a two-month stand-off between Red Shirt protestors and the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, violence and arson scarred central Bangkok in mid-May 2010. This shocking turn of events underlined how poorly understood the deep divisions in the society and politics of Thailand remained, even five years into the country’s prolonged crisis. This volume collects analysis and commentary on those divisions from an unusually large and prominent group of Thai and foreign scholars and observers of the country. Contributions examine socio-economic, political, diplomatic, historical, cultural, and ideological issues with rare frankness, clarity, and lack of jargon.
The past five years have held tremendous significance for the process of nation building in Malaysia. Civil society and voters, especially in urban areas, are making new and strong demands on the government, in fact on governance per se; the opposition parties that managed to pull off successful electoral upsets in 2008 have formed a viable coalition to challenge the long-term federal government; and the federal government itself has been trying to adopt a reformist image without alienating its numerous conservative supporters. Although the government's slogan of 1Malaysia was meant to signify national unity, it lacked credibility because many of the systemic deficiencies of sustained one party - 1Party - rule still remained. This collection of articles studies various aspects of change now pushed into the foreground for discussion.
Armed separatist insurgencies have created a real dilemma for many national governments of how much freedom to grant aggrieved minorities without releasing territorial sovereignty over the nation-state. This book examines different approaches that have been taken by seven states in South and Southeast Asia to try and resolve this dilemma through various offers of autonomy. Providing new insights into the conditions under which autonomy arrangements exacerbate or alleviate the problem of armed separatism, this comprehensive book includes in-depth analysis of the circumstances that lead men and women to take up arms in an effort to remove themselves from the state’s borders by creating their own independent polity.
This admirable book contains fascinating autobiographical accounts, by some of Southeast Asia's most eminent scholars, concerning their struggle to find their own voices in interpreting the region to which they belong. The book should be indispensable to anyone interested in thinking about knowledge production and its politics in a postcolonial world. In the views of these scholarly Southeast Asians, we are made to see, in very personal terms, the link between the global crisis in the social sciences and the need to find remedies for it that are neither Eurocentric nor parochially anti-Western.-Professor Alexander WoodsideProfessor of Chinese and Southeast Asian HistoryUniversity of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. This book marks the shift of the centre of Southeast Asian Studies from the West to Southeast Asia. The insights provided by the authors are not simply explanations of colonial and postcolonial experiences of major Southeast Asian scholars. Rather, the book provides a unique set of intellectual genealogies that show that distinctions between humanities and social sciences are less important than the development of distinctive local and regional traditions and practices of scholarship. Goh Beng-Lan's introduction frames the collection through her subtle deconstruction of international discourses on Southeast Asia. This introduction then allows the reader to view the different generations of Southeast Asian scholars in their social, political, and academic contexts. The end result is a combined view of the state of the art of Southeast Asian Studies, a view that is greater than the sum of its national parts. - Professor Adrian VickersChair of Southeast Asian StudiesUniversity of SydneyandDirector, Australian Centre for Asian Art and Archaeology The collection represents a coming of age of scholars from Southeast Asia. What we hear is not bluster that comes from a wounded pride or doctrinal certainties, but a quiet confidence that acknowledges the multiple currents in which their scholarship has been formed, and a willingness to engage the perspective of the 'other', both within and without. The reflexivity in this volume sets the stage for scholars from the region to develop perspectives and concepts to address the challenges of the new configuration of the Asia being ushered in by ASEAN. - Professor Prasenjit DuaraRaffles Professor of Humanities and Director of Research, Humanities and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore
"This book makes an important contribution to understanding the ongoing political evolution of politics in Sarawak. It also provides a case study of the engagement of a dominant state with social forces in a multi-ethnic society."— Prof Harold Crouch, Emeritus Professor, Department of Political & Social Change, School of International, Political & Strategic Studies, Australian National University "Taking off from Joel Migdal's notions of 'the strongman-politician, 'strong society, weak state' and 'the state in society', the author discusses how the federal government accommodates Taib Mahmud's chief ministership over Sarawak, and how his long tenure is anchored in winning political support from the Sarawak Muslim Bumiputera community. An insightful book on contemporary Sarawak politics."—Prof Francis Loh Kok Wah, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia"This volume will go a long way in explaining why a single Melanau family has been able to dominate Sarawak politics for the past four decades."—Prof James Chin, Head of School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University, Malaysia Campus
This book discusses three major elements - MTV, the Music of Malaysia, and the Music of Indonesia - and how these three interact in the modern cultural setting. The research objective behind the book was to study the impact of globalization, in the form of the MTV onslaught on the youth musical culture and identities of Indonesia and Malaysia, and to determine what theoretical basis could explain the new cultural products which have risen in response to this process. The book goes on to examine whether the nasyid and irama Malaysia music genres in Malaysia and dangdut in Indonesia are part of this process and how it is achieved
Once acting as local representatives of the national government and content to let their larger counterparts do the 'heavy lifting', state and provincial governments are increasingly expected to be stewards of their economies and deliver sustained growth rates for their citizens. Spurred on by increasing competition, not least from neighbouring territories, sub-national governments are increasingly formulating their own plans for economic development, taking out loans, investing in specialist facilities, and establishing marketing offices abroad. Despite this increasingly challenging environment, there is little research on what sub-national governments can or should do to catalyze the development of their economies. Focussing on the electronics sector, this book draws together ten cases of promising states or provinces largely, but not exclusively, from Asia. These dynamic regions have managed to outcompete the primary economic and political centres of power in their countries and are negotiating their own entry into one of the most challenging and demanding sectors. In exploring the issues of agency, autonomy, and state-business relations at the sub-national level, this book aims to shed light on a vital, but overlooked topic.
"Half a century since Malayan independence in 1957, this collection of essays provides a welcome assessment of post-colonial, especially recent Malaysian policies on various fronts – development, 'looking East', 1997-98 crisis management, inter-ethnic redistribution, poverty reduction, trade, education, healthcare, globalization, Islam and national culture. This volume is a useful compendium for anyone seeking a broad overview of recent policy challenges and debates." – Jomo Kwame Sundaram, United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development